The Milwaukee Brewers and their fans had their hearts ripped out on Thursday night. The Brewers had been in cruise control throughout Game 3 of the NL Wild Card round against the Mets as New York couldn't do anything against Milwaukee's pitchers and back-to-back solo homers gave the Brewers a lead heading into the ninth. Unfortunately, Devin Williams imploded and just like that, Milwaukee was going home early.
Aside from the pain of the Brewers' continued playoff struggles, the loss felt especially bad given the bad blood surrounding the series thanks to one Jesse Winker. Winker caused a confrontation in Game 1 with Willy Adames and it sure would have been nice to shove a series loss in his face on Thursday. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
However, that doesn't mean their weren't further developments with the Adames-Winker drama. Right before the game, it was revealed that Adames actually went to the parking lot to have a face-to-face with Winker as he promised to do during their shouting match. Predictably, Winker didn't show up.
Willy Adames punked Jesse Winker, but Mets sadly get the final word after taking down the Brewers
This is legitimately hilarious. The image of Adames just walking to an empty parking and waiting for Winker while Winker probably hides in his hotel room gassing himself up is just too good. Of course Winker wasn't going to show up. That is what all pretend tough guys do. Obviously it would have been a disaster for the Brewers if Winker and Adames actually duked it out as Adames is actually a player of value, but this was a calculated move and we love it.
It is also worth mentioning that Brewers fans were booing Winker mercilessly in Game 3 and Milwaukee gave them what they wanted by plunking Winker twice in the game. That is a dangerous door to open as it can create a dumb atmosphere of retaliation and Winker ended up scoring as an insurance run for the Mets, but it also wasn't entirely unexpected.
All of this was for naught, unfortunately. All of the tension between the two clubs went to the wayside as Pete Alonso's game-breaking three run homer is going to be the lasting image from the Brewers' latest playoff disappointment. That said, one wonders what could happen the next time Milwaukee faces Winker.